Draft Law on Investment (amended): Maximum decentralization and delegation of power to localities.

According to the National Assembly's work program, on the morning of November 11th, at the 10th session of the 15th National Assembly, Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang, on behalf of the Prime Minister, will present the draft Law on Investment (amended). The draft Law on Investment (amended) is one of the laws attracting attention at this National Assembly session, with extensive proposed amendments and additions aimed at removing "bottlenecks"; specifically, maximizing decentralization and delegation of power to localities based on the principle of "local authorities decide, local authorities act, local authorities are responsible". In addition, the draft will refine regulations on conditional investment and business sectors and investment and business conditions, shifting strongly from "pre-approval" to "post-approval" coupled with enhanced inspection and supervision…

Construction of the Ring Road 4 - Capital Region, the section intersecting with National Highway 6, in Yen Nghia ward, Ha Dong district ( Hanoi ). (Illustrative photo: Huy Hung/TTXVN)

The Investment Law No. 61/2020/QH14 was passed by the National Assembly on June 17, 2020. Alongside its positive results, the Investment Law has revealed some limitations related to regulations on the freedom of business of investors, investment incentives and support policies, procedures for conducting investment and business activities in Vietnam, and investment from Vietnam abroad…

According to Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, this is a law with a very broad scope, covering all investment and business activities of domestic and foreign organizations and individuals.

According to Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, the draft is the result of a long-term research, summarization, and accumulation process. The Ministry of Finance has organized numerous consultations with localities in all three regions, ministries, agencies of the National Assembly, domestic and foreign associations, foreign investors, etc. This is a step to ensure that the draft law fully reflects the practical realities and reform needs in investment activities.

One of the key directions of this draft is to decentralize power to the maximum extent for local authorities according to the principle of "local authorities decide, local authorities act, local authorities are responsible". Accordingly, the Government proposes retaining the authority to approve investment policies only for projects that pose significant risks to national defense and security and belong to key sectors such as seaports and airports.

The draft will clearly classify projects according to central or local authority, identifying groups of projects that require investment policy approval procedures, groups that do not require approval but must be registered, and groups that do not require both procedures.

The draft proposal suggests transferring all authority to approve investment policies from the National Assembly to the Prime Minister. For projects requiring special mechanisms, the Government will report to and seek the opinion of the National Assembly Standing Committee before making a decision.

Regarding the list of conditional investment and business sectors, after coordinating with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and relevant ministries and agencies, the Ministry of Finance proposed cutting 21 sectors. This number is higher than VCCI's initial proposal of 17 sectors. The reduction complies with the directives of the Politburo and the Government, aiming to facilitate investor entry into the market; and at the same time, shift the focus of management from pre-approval to post-approval.

In addition, the draft Law has amended and improved regulations on the procedures for approving investment policies by narrowing and clarifying the scope of projects requiring approval. Approval of investment policies will only be granted for infrastructure development projects in certain important and sensitive sectors such as seaports, airports, telecommunications, publishing, and journalism; projects proposing land use or use of sea areas; projects with significant environmental impacts or those implemented in areas affecting national defense and security…

Accordingly, the procedure for approving investment policies will not be carried out in the following cases: projects that have won the auction for mineral exploitation rights; industrial cluster technical infrastructure projects; investment projects that are subject to land allocation or land lease through auction of land use rights or bidding to select investors (except for important projects with significant impact on the socio-economic situation such as airport projects, seaports, industrial parks, etc.).

Furthermore, to promote decentralization and delegation of authority in approving investment policies, the draft only stipulates the authority to approve investment policies of the Prime Minister and the Chairman of the People's Committee at the provincial level, and delegates all projects under the authority of the National Assembly to approve investment policies to the Prime Minister to expedite the process. In particular, for important projects requiring specific mechanisms and policies not yet stipulated in the law, the Government will approve the investment policy after obtaining the consent of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly.

Furthermore, the Government proposes further simplifying the investment approval procedures by: omitting or simplifying some assessment contents that are not truly necessary to consider at the investment approval stage in the Draft Law and the guiding Decree (such as content on technology, environment, etc.). At the same time, clarifying the meaning of assessing the project's conformity with relevant planning directly related to the project implementation proposal (such as sectoral planning, provincial planning, etc.), in order to simplify the assessment content for investment approval.

The draft law also removes 21 conditional investment and business sectors that do not meet the prescribed criteria and conditions, such as accounting services and tax procedure services. At the same time, it stipulates the principles for determining investment and business conditions, serving as a basis for reviewing, screening, and identifying investment and business sectors that truly require "pre-approval" and transitioning to a "post-approval" mechanism.

The draft Law comprises 7 Chapters, 60 Articles, and 4 Appendices, including amendments and additions to 33/77 Articles and 1 Appendice; deletion of 17/77 Articles; retention of 25/77 Articles and 3 Appendices; addition of 2 new Articles; and rearrangement of the Articles.

With a series of significant adjustments, the draft Law on Investment (amended), submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and approval at the 10th session and scheduled to take effect from January 1, 2026, is raising great expectations in removing bottlenecks, creating a transparent and efficient investment environment; and ensuring consistency in management and socio-economic development.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/du-thao-luat-dau-tu-sua-doi-phan-cap-phan-quyen-toi-da-cho-cac-dia-phuong-20251110181427198.htm